US shoppers have come to the rescue of the markets today, at least for the moment.
News that American retail sales rose by 0.3% in January, slightly higher than the 0.2% predicted, eased recession concerns a little and lifted Wall Street by around 80 points. This has helped the FTSE 100 recover from its worst levels - it is now down 16.8 points at 5893.2.
But it seems a little presumptuous to say the US may not go into recession on the basis of one set of - marginally better than expected - figures.
Rob Carnell at ING sounded a note of caution: "We are not convinced by this report. There are too many other indicators pointing in the opposite direction for the rise in retail sales in January to be accepted at face value, and we would expect some of this month's discrepancy to be unwound in the February report."
None of this has helped Bradford & Bingley, which is now down 16% after news of a £226m write-down.
